Squash: Matthew delighted over Grand Prix opener

Dom Howson

Three-time world champion Nick Matthew admitted he was “over the moon” to make a winning start to his season.

The Sheffield star booked his place in the quarter-finals of the AJ Bell British Grand Prix after a 3-0 victory over World No.22 Chris Simpson yesterday.

Matthew, the second seed, claimed a 11-4, 11-7, 11-6 win at the National Centre in Manchester to set up a last eight meeting with fellow Yorkshireman James Willstrop on Saturday.

The 35-year-old said: “I came away with a lot of positives there.

“I didn’t expect that at all. I expected to be having to dig in, hang in, scrap and use a lot of experience and I was going into that match thinking what I was better at than my opponent and how I could use that to win and the only thing I could think of today was that I was more experienced. I was expecting to draw on a lot of that but only really had to in that last game.

“I’m over the moon, I’ve had a bit of an interrupted summer but it came together on the day.”

Simpson was disappointed with his display, posting on Twitter: “Definitely not the start to the season I wanted, pretty poor performance all round I thought. Time to sharpen up, Krakow next week for ECCs.”